(Sorry about this delayed reply on the topic - was offline for a week.)

Ah - I've been curious about the identity of the 'Silver Sword' Philo for
ages.
Although I've seen it hanging around Sydney for about 20 years, I've only
rather recently seen any published picture or mention of it. I think the
same
clone also goes by the names 'Silver', 'Silver Queen' and 'Blue Mink'. The
first plant I saw had been imported by a local grower of rare orchids, York
Meredith - his "very rare blue Philodendron" ("from Colombia", he thought)
had
recently come through quarantine, & he was keen to show it off.

Anyway - just thought I should mention that my plants of this Philo are in
flower , and I'm intending to make a few observations, if that will help
confirm its ID as P. hastatum. (Unfortunately I don't have access to the
Lorenzi Burle Marx book...) I'll send a more detailed posting with
descriptions of my 'Silver Sword' (and maybe of a couple of apparently
closely
related Philos) once I've had a good look at it. (I was also hoping to
photograph the inflorescences as close-up as possible, but the camera with
macro lens is at repairs for 2 weeks, so I might have to make do with
not-so-close-ups...)

Eduardo, I was also wondering if you could possibly suggest some
taxonomically
important features - but easily observed ones! - that I should look out for
in
the inflorescences (or in any other parts of the plant)?

I do have access to a dissecting microscope (up to 50x), but it's years
since I
was a botany undergrad - and my dissection & microscopy skills have since
gone
to pot! Back then I did examine flowers of this Philo & took notes of a few
details, e.g. number of locules per gynoecium, no. of ovules per locule, and
placentation - as the literature I'd looked up (Engler & Krause) seemed to
place stong emphasis on gynoecial things. However, I don't expect to be
able
to manage anything that detailed now (and my old notes are long gone) - so
are
there any kind-of gross morphological features, visible without needing much
dissection, that are just as useful for identifying these Philos?

I have just checked in my plants to see if they are in flower, but they
are not yet. So here follows a few info on how to recognize it:

Vegetatively: Stems grayish, more or less smooth, internodes usually 1.5-2
cm thick in adult (flowering plants); petioles a little flattened
dorsiventrally; leaves sagittate-hastate (i.e., something between an
arrowhead and an inverted "T"; young leaves silvery, getting greener with
time. Fertile material: inflorescence usually solitary; spathe green
outside, usually pale green inside (as far as I remember); female flowers
with the stigma with a diameter smaller than the diameter of the ovaries;
ovaries with 5-6 locules and 2-4 per ovules per locule, attached nearby the
base of the ovule. I do not remember the color of the berries.
In the field the plant is a low climber, usually climbing up to the first
1.5-2 m of the host tree. The same is true for cultivated plants. It rarely
climbs high in the host tree or totem. Well, I think it is enough to
recognize. Any specific question, feel free to ask.

(Sorry about this delayed reply on the topic - was offline for a week.)

Ah - I've been curious about the identity of the 'Silver Sword' Philo for
ages.
Although I've seen it hanging around Sydney for about 20 years, I've only
rather recently seen any published picture or mention of it. I think the
same
clone also goes by the names 'Silver', 'Silver Queen' and 'Blue Mink'. The
first plant I saw had been imported by a local grower of rare orchids, York
Meredith - his "very rare blue Philodendron" ("from Colombia", he thought)
had
recently come through quarantine, & he was keen to show it off.

Anyway - just thought I should mention that my plants of this Philo are in
flower , and I'm intending to make a few observations, if that will help
confirm its ID as P. hastatum. (Unfortunately I don't have access to the
Lorenzi Burle Marx book...) I'll send a more detailed posting with
descriptions of my 'Silver Sword' (and maybe of a couple of apparently
closely
related Philos) once I've had a good look at it. (I was also hoping to
photograph the inflorescences as close-up as possible, but the camera with
macro lens is at repairs for 2 weeks, so I might have to make do with
not-so-close-ups...)

Eduardo, I was also wondering if you could possibly suggest some
taxonomically
important features - but easily observed ones! - that I should look out for
in
the inflorescences (or in any other parts of the plant)?

I do have access to a dissecting microscope (up to 50x), but it's years
since I
was a botany undergrad - and my dissection & microscopy skills have since
gone
to pot! Back then I did examine flowers of this Philo & took notes of a
few
details, e.g. number of locules per gynoecium, no. of ovules per locule,
and
placentation - as the literature I'd looked up (Engler & Krause) seemed to
place stong emphasis on gynoecial things. However, I don't expect to be
able
to manage anything that detailed now (and my old notes are long gone) - so
are
there any kind-of gross morphological features, visible without needing
much
dissection, that are just as useful for identifying these Philos?

regards,
Eugene

Eugene Hoh
Sydney, Australia
hohe@symphony.net.au

Eduardo Goncalves wrote:

> Dear Eric,
>
> This is probably a young specimen of Philodendron hastatum, a
species
> from eastern Brazil. The youngsters usually have a silvery color in some
> clones. You can check an adult plant at the Lorenzi?s book on Burle-Marx
> plants, page 134.
>
> Very best wishes,
>
> Eduardo.
>
> >From: "Alan Galloway"